My IBM Story

In what might be the quintessential IBM story, "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?", former IBM CEO and Chairman, Louis V. Gerstner Jr. shares an often fascinating and almost always interesting story of an iconic American corporation that was foundering and near extinction. According to Gerstner, the 'old IBM' of 1993 was heavily mired in traditions, policies, procedures and organizational structures that made it the antithesis of an agile company. He recounts how, in his nine years as CEO, his leadership turned an inwardly-focused and failing company into the #1 worldwide provider of IT services, hardware, enterprise software (excluding PCs) and custom designed, high performance computer chips. In words supportive of his 'dancing elephant metaphor', Gerstner's concludes his personal IBM story by stating, "As long as IBMers remain focused outward, the world will keep them on their toes."

I too have an IBM story. My story is likely similar to the stories of a great many other current and former IBMers, I'm guessing... A bit more modest than Chairman Gerstner's, perhaps, simply because... well... He'd already taught the elephant all those cool new dance moves. Just riding a dancing pachyderm is not without it's challenges though - or its accompanying rewards - as I hope my own story illustrates.

On the road

I received my first IBM ThinkPad PC in April of 1995, along with my first IBM ID badge and a stack of 'greensheets' (old 'IBM speak' for hardcopy-based, three-part expense reports). I filled out and submitted my first 'greensheet' just a few weeks later, after flying from northern California to Atlanta to help staff a network support helpdesk.

Over the next four years, I worked on projects in [mostly]well-known destinations like San Francisco and Seattle, Detroit and Dallas, Portland and Poughkeepsie. I also worked in less well-known places like Jamestown, ND, Seven Points, TX, Worland, WY and Clovis, CA. In the process of leading installation teams, troubleshooting servers and networks, managing roll-outs and more, I picked up numerous tips and tricks. More importantly though, I learned a great deal from the colleagues I worked with and the clients I served. 

I also enjoyed experiences and places I never before imagined... A massive, stucco buffalo in North Dakota, the special-of-the-day at a roadside Texas diner called "Cheyenne's Roadkill cafe", a nurse's office in Wyoming with hunting trophies on every wall, an outdoor church carved into the living granite of an Oregon cliff face. New sites, new people, new experiences... A wealth of memories I'll carry with me to the end of my days.

(I)'ve (B)een (M)oved

As interesting as the years of travel were, each project took me away from family, including a young daughter who often seemed to be growing up without me. Living in rural northern California, most of the projects I worked on required either a five-hour commute or a plane flight. In August of 1999, an opportunity arose that enabled me to finally get off the road... Though it also required that my family and I relocate more than two-thousand miles away from northern California.

After building-out the server and network infrastructure for a new IBM Innovation Center in Chicago, I spent the next five years supporting independent software vendors (ISVs) as they ported their applications to IBM platforms. The new position came with a host of new experiences... Daily commutes via mass transit into one of America's largest and most vibrant cities, exposure to Linux-based computing grids and other new technologies,  the opportunity to teach classes to ISVs and mentor Chicago Public Schools students, and occasional business trips to a parent center in Boston.

A community-focused career

A passion for writing and creative projects led me to marketing and new opportunities. From June, 2004 to October, 2010, I wrote copy for internal and external web pages, collaborated with internal and external agencies to create compelling print and digital materials, and otherwise worked on internal-, IBM Business Partner- and IBM client-focused projects and materials that successfully supported seven major product launches. I also helped staff various local and national events where I presented on new product releases, demonstrated new products, answered questions and captured leads. In October of 2010, I moved into my most recent marketing role, where I've designed and distributed a range of internal and external communications to audiences as large as +30K subscribers, with industry average-breaking open rates of +45%.

In addition to new professional opportunities, 2004 was the year I discovered IBM's On Demand Community and the many rewards of volunteerism. An IBM-sponsored program called Mentorplace provided my first volunteer opportunity. Through Mentorplace, I had the pleasure of serving as a volunteer mentor to a number of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students from October, 2004 to March, 2012. My introduction to volunteering inspired me to search out additional opportunities, including recording textbooks for blind and learning-disabled students, and helping fight homelessness. Related to my volunteering, I began tracking my volunteer hours in IBM's On Demand Community, enabling me to earn a number of IBM Community Grants that further supported the missions of the charities I worked with.

A life spent living and learning

Professional growth aside, perhaps the greatest benefits of being an IBMer are those I realized outside of work. IBM's relocation investment allowed my family and me to move to a very family-friendly community where my daughter attended some of the country's best public schools. A special IBM program enabled me to go back to school myself and earn a graduate degree. Most importantly, IBM's compensation helped me put my daughter through an excellent college where she earned two degrees, well-positioning herself for a promising career of her own.

Which brings me to the present and the end of the ride. Tomorrow, July 12, 2013, will be my last official day at IBM, a bittersweet reality accompanied by a fair share of uncertainty. Still, +17 years of living and learning as an IBMer continue to remind me of all I've gained along the way. Riding a dancing pachyderm is not without its challenges, nor is it for the faint of heart. I'd be lying though if I didn't admit that it's been one wild ride.

Note: If you'd like to connect with me professionally, you can do so via my LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/trnunes. This blog posting was authored on a Yellow Dog Linux-powered Apple iBook G4. All graphics were edited in a Linux version of Gimp.  

My favorite Weight Watcher's recipes

I've blogged in the past about cooking for the local shelter, including a blog about one of my own recipes. Often though, the dishes I prepare are based on [relatively]healthy Weight Watchers recipes. As a co-worker recently asked me to share some of my favorites, I thought it made sense to post them to my blog, just in case anyone else is interested (or wants to share them with others). Here they are:

• Roasted Vegetables (This is one of my FAVORITE recipes, easy and delicious, and it goes with practically anything. Here's a pic.)
• Spaghetti Pie (Note: I use whole grain spaghetti to make it healthier, and I substitute egg beaters for eggs and also substitute a little butter-flavored cooking spray and an extra 1/4 c, of egg beaters for the margarine to make the recipe even more low-fat. Here's a pic.)
• Pot-Luck Pasta Salad (Here's a pic).
• Sweet Potato and Squash Bake (Here's a pic).
• Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya (Note: I substitute butter-flavored spray for the margarine, and Uncle Ben's Converted Brown Rice for the white rice to reduce the fat even more and make it healthier)
• 15-Minute Chicken Gumbo (A recipe I like to make in advance and keep individual servings of in the freezer as a quick warm-up after cold Fall and Winter outdoor astronomy observing sessions).

Enjoy!

PS: Here's a tweet you can use if you'd like to share this recipe blog with others via social media: 

• Favorite recipes of a shelter volunteer: http://bit.ly/VIvGZW #DuPagePADS #recipes #cooking #healthy #WeightWatchers #Homelessness

Food for the Soul

In the movie, "Pay it Forward", Haley Joel Osment plays a young boy who, inspired by a teacher (played by Kevin Spacey), commits to trying to make the world a better place. You'll need to watch the movie or read a review for more detail but, suffice it to say that Osment's character seems to sincerely want to help others, purely for the joy of doing so. It's a wonderful perspective, even a biblical one. Unfortunately, I'd be lying if I claimed that's why I volunteer my time or gelt.

I've volunteered for a number of charities over the years, including the local food pantry, as a reader of textbooks for the blind or those with learning disabilities, at the local homeless shelter, and as a e-mentor for an IBM program called Mentorplace. My choice of charities reflect both my own comfort level (e.g. my educational background, reading ability, love of cooking, etc) and a desire to improve the world my family and I live in, and the world my daughter and other young people will inherit. Still, it's the way volunteering makes me feel that is likely my driving factor. It's all about me, me, me after all... Which certainly isn't something to brag about, but I'd be a complete hypocrite if I claimed I was earning my way to paradise. As it is, I'd be happy for a window air conditioner in Hell. ;-)

Which brings me to the events of the day, and the inspiration for this blog. As a volunteer cook for the local shelter, I spend a few hours each month shopping for ingredients and preparing a dish to feed ten to twelve people (the shelter typically has fifty to seventy clients, but a number of other volunteers prepare dishes as well). Some months it's a salad, other months it's a dessert... And tonight it was a main dish... A rather labor intensive main dish (approximately three hours of preparation/cooking time, not counting shopping or delivery). Still, I felt pretty good about myself all the way to the shelter and in the car after... Until I drove past all of the clients standing outside of the shelter on my way home. Young and old, men and women just like you and me... People who, but for the grace of God, could be us.

If anything I've written here inspires someone to volunteer, that's wonderful. As a matter of fact, that's how I rationalize sharing the news of my volunteer work. I've often said that it's possible someone might read or otherwise hear about something I've done and decide to step to the plate themselves... As there are far more people in need than there are volunteers to meet those needs. The truth is, though, that I share what I do because that makes me feel good as well... Which, again, may not earn me that window air conditioner in Hell I'm striving for, but at least it's honest... Dammit. ;-)

That said, and without further ado, here's what I prepared for tonight's shelter meal... Which I sincerely hope the clients enjoyed, at least as much as I enjoyed making it.....

Tim's Teriyaki Stir-Fry over Confetti Rice*

Ingredients:

Chicken & Stock:
2 lbs. chicken thighs
2 lbs. chicken breast halves
8 cups water
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 carrots, sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 large sweet onion, quartered
4 bay leaves
1/8 c. reduced sodium teriyaki sauce

Confetti Rice
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
1 red sweet pepper, diced
5 1/4 c. chicken stock[see above]
3 c. Uncle Ben's brown rice, uncooked
3 tblsp. Fleishman's unsalted/lactose-free margarine

Teriyaki Stir Fry
PAM cooking spray
1 & 1/2 large sweet onions, halved & quartered (e.g. bite-sized)
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1"-1.5" pieces (e.g. bite-sized)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh pineapple, sans skin or core, cut into 1"-1.5" pieces (e.g. bite-sized)
+3 lbs. parboiled/marinated chicken[see above], cut into 1"-1.5" pieces (e.g. bite-sized)
1/8 c. reduced sodium teriyaki sauce
1/8 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/8 c. sesame oil

Directions (Day One):
Combine all the "Chicken and Stock" ingredients except the teriyaki in a pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for thirty minutes. Remove from heat, strain and refrigerate chicken stock, discard all other non-chicken ingredients, remove chicken skin, remove chicken from bones (preferable in bite-sized pieces), and discard chicken skin and bones. Place parboiled chicken pieces in a container or bag, add teriyaki sauce, and allow to marinate overnight.

Directions (Day Two):
Remove the chilled chicken stock from the refrigerator, skim the solidified fat off the top, discard or set aside any stock in excess of 5 1/4 cups, then combine with the rest of the "Confetti Rice" ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately thirty minutes (or until all moisture is absorbed by the rice). When done, pour into the bottom of a large, foil lasagna pan.

With fifteen minutes left on the rice timer, liberally coat a large skillet or wok with PAM cooking spray and place over medium-high to high heat until you can smell the oil and it's slightly changed color. Throw in the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until the bell pepper is slightly tender and the onion is just starting to get translucent (approximately four to six minutes). Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce starts to thicken or the pineapple starts to cook (approximately four to six minutes). Pour over rice and serve (or cover in foil, deliver, place in warmer, and serve within the hour).

Serves ten to twelve.

* NOTE: The "Chicken and Stock" step of this recipe is largely based on Better Homes & Garden's "Stewed Chicken" recipe.